Enameled article and method of producing the same



April 5 1932. L. SAAW ET AL 1 852,759

ENAMELED ARTICLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed June 14, 1950 five/11W L A 6/7414 A. 6. J0/7/75'0/7 QWW W Patented Apr. 5, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

LEON I. SHAW, 01 OAK PARK, AND ALBERT G. JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A8-

SIGNORS TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y A

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK ENAMELED ARTICLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Application filed June 14,

invention relates to enameled articles and methods of producing the same, and more particularly to vitreous enameled articles such as enameled signs wherein the surface is provided with patterns or indicia, and to methods of producing such articles.

Objects of the invention are to provide an improved vitreous enameled article and to provide a more facile method of producing 10 such articles with a less expenditure of time and labor.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a metallic plate is provided with one or more ground coats of enamel in the usual manner, and a coating of an alginatesuspended slip is then applied over the ground coats and allowed to dry. A coating of claysuspended slip of another color is then applied over the alginate-suspended slip and dried, after which predetermined portions of the last applied coating are'removed, as by brushing, to form the desired pattern, and the article is then fired to fuse the several coatings into a finished ceramic enamel.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connection with the appended drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an article embodying the invention, and

a Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the finished article.

To form a patterned article in accordance with this invention, a ground coat 10 of enamel having special adhesive properties is first applied to a supportin surface such as a metallic plate 12, and is red in the usual manner. This ground coat may contain 00- balt oxide or any suitable agent adapted to impart adhesiveness to the enamel, as known in the art; if cobalt oxide is used the color of the ound coat will be a cobalt blue. It is possi 1e in the practice of the invention to omit the ground coat, but it is preferred to utilize it in most instances.

To the fired ground-coat is then applied one or more coatings '14 of an alginate-suspended enamel such as is described in the copending application of L. I. Shaw, Serial No. 258,135, filed February 29, 1928, an example 1930. Serial No. 461,254.

adapts it to the instant process is the fact that, dueto the presence of the alginate, the

composition is more tenacious and upon drying becomes much harder and more cohesive than the usual clay-suspended slips, which feature is utilized in the manner set forth below.

A The alginate suspended coating 14 is then dried, preferably in a dryin oven, and a final coating 16 of another co or is then applied over it, the final coating being a softer or less cohesive material such as the usual clay-suspended slip, and the final coating is then allowed to dry.

A stencil 18, provided with apertures 20 forming the desired pattern, is then placed in position over the final coating as indicated in Fig. 1, and a stiff brush is applied through the apertures 20 to remove predetermined portions 22 of the final coating. These portions 22 may be brushed out without removing the corresponding portions of the alginate-suspended coating 14 by reason of the superior cohesiveness and hardness of the latter coating, as mentioned above.

The pattern having thus been formed, the stencil is removed and the article is then fired to fuse coatings 16 and 14 to form thereby the finished article, it being unnecessary to give the coating 14 a separate firin While the invention has ear/described with reference to a specific application thereof, it is evident that it may be applied in other forms, and that it is limited only by the terms of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of producing an enameled article which comprlses applying to a supporting surface an enamel coating of relatively hard cohesive material, applying over said coatin an enamel coating of a less co- 100 hesive material, removing portions of the last mentioned enamel coating to form a pattern, and firing the resulting article.

2. The method of producing an enameled article which comprlses applying to a supporting surface an alginate-suspended enamel coating, applying over the said coating an enamel coating of softer material, removing predetermined portions of the last mentioned enamel coating to-form a pattern, and firing the resulting article.

3. The method of producing an enameled article which comprises applying a ground coating to a metallic plate, applym an enamel coating of relatively hard materlal to the ground coating, applying over the last mentioned coating an enamel coating of softer material, removing portions of the last mentioned enamel coating to form a pattern, and firing the resulting article.

4:. The method of producing an enameled article which comprises applying to a supporting surface analginate-suspended slip, applying a clay-suspended slip over the alginate suspended slip, removing portions of the clay-suspended slip to form indicia, and firing the resulting article. 7

5. The method of producing an enameled article which comprises applying to a supporting surface an alginate-suspended slip and drying the same, applying over the alginate-suspended slip a clay-suspended slip and drying the same, removing portions of the clay-suspended slip to form a pattern, and firing the resulting article to transform the slips to enamel.

6. A patterned enameled article wherein one portion of the pattern is formed from an alginate-suspended slip and another ortion of the pattern is formed from a c ay-suspended slip.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 5th day of June, A. D. 1930.

LEON I. SHAW. ALBERT G. JOHNSON. 

